


Tradition

by zzariyo



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Ballroom Dancing, Birthday, Christmas, Dancing, Falling In Love, Hylian Headcanons, I AINT GONNA RATE IT TEEN JUST CUZ OF ONE CURSE WORD, M/M, Rito Headcanons, Sharing Cultures, THIS IS FULLLLLLLLLLLL OF HCs BABY, fug if im honest i do not know how to tag, i say general audiences but there is a single bad word in there, kind of?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-24
Updated: 2018-10-24
Packaged: 2019-08-06 21:04:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,455
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16395074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zzariyo/pseuds/zzariyo
Summary: It's been a few months since the Champions have started working together. Link has since warmed up to everyone, especially Revali, the Rito Champion.As the months go on, the two of them grow ever closer, teaching each other about their different cultures and learning more about one another. During this time, something starts to change between them.Got Honorable Mention in Kumoricon 2018's FanFic Contest!!edit: (2/06/2019) I re-edited this because those mistakes were driving me positively buckwild.





	Tradition

**Author's Note:**

> hello, all!!!! i've been slowly chugging away at this for a couple of months, so it's a relief that I finished it...even though it...certainly didn't turn out like I hoped, and it reads very much like a boring soap opera written for women in their 60s.  
> Either way! This is for my wonderful friend [eighteenish!!!!](https://eighteenish.tumblr.com/) Thank you for being so patient with me ;;;;;  
> I'm glad I got it done, because now I can submit it for 2018 Kumoricon's fanfiction contest!! even though this is by far not my best work!!! heyoooooooooooo  
> also shout out to my buddy [stealth-buoy](https://stealth-buoy.tumblr.com/) for helping me out with ideas when I was stuck. I couldn't have figured this out without you!!!!

 

 

B A N Q U E T

  
  


“For the love of everything that is holy! Where in the everloving  _ hell  _ did I put it?!”

Link was standing in Revali’s doorway, watching the Rito tear apart his room looking for something. The drawers of his dresser and vanity were open all the way and the items that had once been inside them were strewn across the floor. The books from his bookshelf were tossed around, the chest at the end of his bed was open with his contents spread out around it, and his bed was a disheveled wreck.

Revali’s squawking was heard from down the hall, so naturally, Link had rushed over to see if his companion was alright.

It was worse than he had feared.

“How could I lose my bag? How utterly stupid can I be?!” Revali screeched as he searched underneath his bed. 

His tail was poking out from underneath, bobbing as he combed under the bed for his missing bag. The sight made Link chuckle a little to himself.

After a few moments of a fruitless search in the dust beneath the bed, Revali crawled out backward. He came out covered in dust, which made him sneeze profusely and his feathers ruffled as he did so.

“Damn it! Damn it!” Revali muttered as he briskly stood up and brushed at his face, trying to get all of the dust off when he caught sight of the Hylian standing in the doorway smiling at him. “Wh-?! Link?!” Revali’s feathers ruffled further as he stood up straight and faced Link, specks of dust still hanging on his feathers.

At first, Revali’s face was one of pure fear and dread, but it quickly morphed into a counterfeit look of annoyance and distaste. “Have you ever heard of knocking, Hylian? You know, it’s quite rude to-”

“I know, I know. I’m sorry,” Link interrupted, his voice low and soft as always. “I heard you from down the hall and wanted to make sure that you were alright.”

Revali clicked his beak and dusted off his legs as he croaked, “Why wouldn’t I be? Everything is fine.”

The Hylian leaned against the door frame, crossing his arms, softly smirking and raising an eyebrow.

“Okay, well maybe not  _ everything  _ is fine,” the Rito said as he rolled his eyes, turning around to find somewhere else to look. “I’m just in a hurry and can’t find my blasted satchel is all.”

Link stepped into the room that was in disarray, glancing around to pinpoint a place where the distressed avian hadn’t checked yet. He peeked around the open door and noticed a door hook on the other side that had a multitude of things hanging off of it, looking undisturbed. 

With a light creak, he closed the door enough to see a satchel hanging off of the hook. Chuckling to himself, he took it off, careful not to knock anything else on the hook off and onto the floor. 

Not like it would have mattered. The place was a mess either way. 

With the bag’s strap in one hand, he said Revali’s name softly, getting the attention of the Rito that was digging further into the chest. After Revali whipped around to look at him, Link pointed at the satchel in his hand with a smile to motion,  _ “This?” _

Revali threw his head back to groan and got up to stride over and rip the satchel out of the Hylian’s hands. “Of course it was there! Out of all the places, that was where I should’ve looked first!” Immediately after squawking, he turned back around and walked over to the end of his bed where a small pile of random things was sitting. He started to grab at everything in the pile and began shoving them into his bag.

“So what is it that you’re in such a hurry for?” Link asked, making Revali twist around to look at him. 

The navy avian took a second to squint at Link before rolling his eyes and turning back to his things. “There’s this ceremony...banquet...kind of... _ thing _ that we Ritos do every couple of years or so.” He huffed and shook his head. “I thought that being all the way in Central Hyrule and being so busy with Champion duties would give me a pardon for going, but apparently not.”

Link walked forward, stepping over all of the things on the floor, to stand on the side of the bed so he could face Revali. “What kind of ceremony?” 

“One that does not concern you,” the Rito said as he shoved one last item into his bag and closed its flap. 

Link looked at him with brows raised, which Revali noticed when he went to buckle the satchel’s straps.

In response to that somewhat amused and curious expression, he let out a scoff and rolled his eyes again. “Every couple of years, fledglings training to be warriors go through a trial. If they succeed, they’ve earned their right to become warriors and the whole village throws a celebratory banquet for them,” Revali spat, and then leaned over the bed towards Link to raise his eyebrows back at him. “If you must know.”

Link pursed his lips. “Well, of course they would want you to be there. Having you, their Champion, congratulate them on their success would be an honor.”

Revali scoffed. “Please. I have much more important matters to attend to than to congratulate some brats at their-” Revali then made a sort of trilling sound, not much different than that of a bird, but it was structured more like an actual word in a way. When he saw Link cock his head at him in curiosity, he sighed. “That’s the name of the event. It’s a very old Rito word, as this custom has been around for who knows how long. From my understanding, it means ‘trials by wind’.” 

Link stared at Revali, trying to process the strange Rito word that he had said with ease.  _ “Tw..twer..tweepur..t-twee...” _ Link murmured as he tried his best, and failed miserably, to replicate that sound that Revali had made.  _ “Twipurri…twipurritwee….” _

“What are you doing?” The Rito asked, his brows furrowed.

“I’m trying to say it...”  Link squinted and looked up at the ceiling in concentration.  _ “T-twee...tweepurritweetur _ …Is that close?”

“Oh, stop it. You’re making a fool of yourself.”

Link ignored Revali and continued to try and mimic the trill.

Revali shook his head in exasperation and then slung the bag over his shoulder. “Anyway, I really should be going. At this rate, I’m going to be embarrassingly late.” He twisted on his heels and made his way to the door, but Link walked over and stood in front of him, blocking his path. 

Revali narrowed his eyes at the Hylian in front of him. “What?” He asked shortly.

Link’s eyes flicked around, then he let out a tiny sigh before saying, “What if I came with you? I don’t have anything very important to do for the next two days. I’m sure it wouldn’t be a problem if I tagged along.”

Revali’s brows furrowed more as he studied the Hylian. “Are you sure? This is probably very different from the banquets you’re used to.”

Link nodded. “Of course! I would’ve just been practicing and swinging around my sword all day anyway. But if I went with you, I would actually learn something.” He shrugged. “I’ve always been curious about Rito culture, and I would love to see the place where you were raised.”

“And how do you expect to get there? Even by horse, you would just slow me down.”

“I figured that I could just ride on your back the way there. We’ve done it before.”

“For short distances,” Revali retorted, annoyed. 

Link only replied with another shrug and another small smile.

Revali stared at Link once more, studying him as he scrunched up his beak.

After what felt like a minute had passed, Revali finally scoffed, “Fine. Whatever. Just be quick at getting your things.”

The Hylian’s smile widened further before he nodded and ran out the door to his room to get his things.

Link couldn't believe Revali actually let him come along.

 

~~~

 

When Link had heard the word ‘banquet’, he had gotten very excited. 

Food was one of Link’s favorite things, so the thought of trying out Rito cuisine was such a thrill.

And while the celebration itself was a total delight, the food was...well... _ awful. _

Everyone was sitting cross-legged on cushions in front of a very long, low table that had barely enough room for everybody there. The table was completely covered in an array of plates, bowls, and pitchers, all containing food or drink that a famished Link was eager to try. He was ready to dump all sorts of foods onto his plate and dig in, until he actually got a good look at the food served. 

Link didn’t know why he was so surprised when he saw that no less than half of the food offered on the table had various kinds of  _ insects  _ as an ingredient if the insects weren’t the dish itself. That was what birds ate, right? And Rito were basically just bird people, right?

So, of course, he went to grab at the foods that didn’t look like it had any bugs, expecting to taste flavors that he had never tasted before. But, horrifyingly, it was all incredibly bland. There was little to no flavor there, and Link was ultimately disappointed. 

Even so, when he looked around at all of the Rito enjoying their food, it was clear that they thought it all was overwhelmingly delicious. It made him wonder if they even had taste buds at all.

Although, watching Revali as he ate, unlike the flavors of the ‘Rito cuisine’, wasn’t disappointing at all. In fact, it made Link smile.

Revali might have made it seem like coming here was a drag, but it was clear from the way his smile shone as he congratulated the teenagers that passed the trials and how he talked to everyone around the table that he was actually enjoying himself. It was the first time that Link had heard Revali laugh without a snide remark coming afterward, and surprisingly, it sounded very light and bubbly.

It was nice.

 

After everyone was done eating, the table and cushions were moved off to the side to make room for them to light a large bonfire in the center for everyone to gather around. 

A band played in one corner, giving them all wonderful music to dance to together in the light of the fire as the sun fell down the sky.

Link had always been a magnet for kids, so he found himself dancing with all the little Rito hatchlings to the drums, lutes, and wind instruments that the members of the band played. The kids even tried to teach him the traditional Rito dances they knew, but Link was absolutely terrible at it, making the little ones giggle.

Revali was sitting at the sidelines though, watching with the tiniest of smiles as he leaned against a wooden post. 

Link noticed this and stopped dancing, looking over at the navy avian standing by himself just outside the light of the fire. “ _ Now that just won’t do,”  _ He thought to himself as he broke away from the circle of children to walk over to Revali. 

He put his hands on his hips and looked up at him with a small grin.

“What?” Revali said flatly.

“Why aren’t you dancing?” Link asked. “Everyone else is.”

The navy avian furrowed his brows and tightened his beak into a short frown. “No, thanks. I'd rather watch.”

“Why not?”

“B-because-”

Link’s sapphire eyes crinkled as his smile grew. “Don’t tell me that the great Champion Revali is a  _ bad dancer.” _

“I am  _ not!”  _ Revali spat, his feathers ruffling in both offense and embarrassment. 

“Good! Because you’re going to dance with me,” the Hylian said quickly with a laugh before grabbing Revali’s hand and pulling him into the small dance circle.

Revali squawked as Link pulled him along, trying to protest and wiggle out of his grasp, but it was no use. Even though Link was shorter, he was so much stronger, so no matter how far Revali dug his feet into the dirt, Link was still able to drag him easily.

Once Link was successful in pulling Revali to the small circle of children, the little ones all looked up at him with sparkling eyes. Now he had no chance of leaving since they were too excited to have their Champion join them to let him leave. They would have just whined and dragged him back in.

The hatchlings chirped over one another, deciding who was going to hold Link’s hand and who was going to hold Revali’s. After they came to a decision, they forcibly took both the Champions’ hands and started to lead them into a circle dance.

Link was able to catch on easily, and Revali clearly already knew this simple dance, but he wasn’t happy about it. His beak was tight as if he was trying to hide how he didn’t want to be there. 

Truthfully, Link was surprised that he didn’t bark at the children and instead was very patient and almost sweet with them. After some time, his slightly annoyed expression melted into a genuine smile as he accepted his fate. He was starting to have fun with both the little Rito and Link, and he even began to bubble with laughter as they spun around in circles.

At one point, Link and Revali both started to spin around so fast that the little ones were lifted off their feet and howling with laughter. Once their feet fell back onto the ground after being spun around, they chanted, “Again, again!”, to which they both obliged with a chuckle.

After many spins, Revali even took Link and the kids aside to teach them a more ‘proper Rito dance’, as he put it. 

Link had never seen anything like this dance before, and no matter how many times Revali repeated every little step, he couldn’t copy it at all. There was just a certain elegance and precision to the way that he stepped, kicked and held his wings that Link just couldn’t replicate. The way he spun around made his braids bounce like it was just another part of the dance, and the way his wrists twisted and hips swayed was so alluringly graceful.

“For your feet, you kick with your right foot, then your left, then your right again. And then you stomp with your right foot on the downbeat,” Revali said when he tried to explain the first move of the dance. He slowed down his dancing to help the others learn it step by step, but still managed to keep in time with the beat of the music. “While you do that, just hold your arms up like so.” He held his wings out perpendicular to his body, his wrists limp. “That’s the first move at least.”

The little Rito were able to do it perfectly just like that, thrilled to learn something from their Champion, but Link struggled to keep up. The energy and the movement in the dance were completely different than the Hylian ones he was used to. 

Then there was the fact that his feet insisted on tripping over each other, and not to mention it was very difficult to focus on what he was doing. Revali’s dancing kept distracting him, making him stop and watch him instead of stumbling around trying to follow. 

When Revali’s eyes flicked to Link to see him standing there like a moron and watching with stars in his eyes, his carefree expression shifted into one of irritation and discomfort. 

Link jolted and snickered nervously. 

The Rito Champion stared him down. “While I understand that my flawless choreography may be quite mesmerizing,” Revali said with his tone soaking in disdain, “I don’t appreciate being  _ gawked  _ at.” His feathers ruffled in a way that Link hadn’t seen before...almost like he was flustered.

Link anxiously rubbed the back of his neck and snickered again. “Right. Sorry. I just was having a hard time following…”

Revali rolled his eyes and scoffed, turning his attention back to the small handful of hatchlings. “What about you four? Were you able to follow?”

They all nodded in unison. “Yes, sir!”

“It’s a really pretty dance, but it's easy to follow,” one hatchling said.

“Yeah! Thanks for teachin’ us, Champion Revali!” another one babbled. 

“You’re very welcome,” Revali said as he side-eyed Link and sneered.

Link’s lips flattened into an awkward frown.

Was he trying to embarrass him? Maybe as punishment for ruffling him up?

Revali looked over at the bonfire where all the other Rito were dancing. He stared at them for a moment, studying their steps and the way their shadows pranced across the ground before he turned around towards the fire and started to walk towards it. “This dance is easy enough. I’m sure that even  _ you  _ can pick it up, Link. Let’s join.”

Link continued to stand there like an idiot and the Rito kids looked up at their Champion, also remaining still.

When he didn’t follow, Revali turned around again to look at him. His gaze moved over to the children, and he said patiently with a tiny smile, “You all can come, too. As long as you follow the dance, I’m sure the adults won’t mind.”

All four of the hatchlings beamed and they skipped forward to follow the Champion who walked towards the bonfire. 

Hesitantly, Link began to follow them.

Around the fire was a large circle of Rito, all holding hands and twirling around the bonfire. They kicked, stepped, rose their arms, and tilted their heads in a pattern that Link couldn’t quite process, and it made him dizzy staring at their feet to try and count their steps and memorize them.

This most certainly was  _ not  _ going to be easy.

Link was trailing far behind while the hatchlings stayed close to Revali, who exchanged a look with a Rito woman that almost immediately let go of the wing of the Rito beside her and stepped aside, giving all six of them an opening to join.

The kids didn’t even hesitate to jump in. One reached up to grab the wing of the woman that let them in and the other three held each other's hands. 

Revali held off on joining the circle until Link came, who wore a worried expression.

“It’ll be fine,” Revali said, rolling his eyes again. “I promise that it isn’t as hard as it looks. Just follow everyone until you get it.” He held out a hand to Link, his emerald eyes shining in the light of the fire as he stared at Link enticingly.

Slowly, the Hylian reached out his hand, but clearly, he wasn’t moving at a speed to Revali’s liking, because the navy avian reached out and grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him into the ring with him. As soon as he was in, one of the hatchlings they had been dancing with grabbed his hand while Revali grabbed the other. 

Link figured it must’ve been obvious that he was nervous and overwhelmed trying to keep up with this “easy” foreign dance because Revali squeezed his hand gently, making Link look up at him. A weird, foreign smile spread on Revali’s face as he looked down at him and said quietly, “You’re fine. You’re doing great.”

A grin spread out on Link’s lips and he inaudibly choked out, “Thank you.”

There was something about the way that Revali, who usually was so unfriendly and arrogant, softly smiled at him. It put him in ease and washed away his anxiety. 

Link took a deep breath and looked down, eyeing both his feet and Revali’s. He focused on imitating the Revali’s steps, and suddenly the pattern that he had trouble understanding before came to him. 

His eyes went back up to Revali and he almost jumped out of his skin when he saw the avian already looking back at him, the smile still there.

Without a word, Revali turned his head back towards the bonfire and began to sing the old Rito song everyone else around them was twittering. 

That was certainly something that Link had no chance at copying, so he just listened to the beautiful song as he danced.

  
  


~~~

  
  


The morning after, Revali and Link left Rito Village to go back to Hyrule Castle.

The sun was just rising, painting the sky they flew through with beautiful hues of pinks and oranges. 

Link, riding on Revali’s back, had his arms wrapped around the Rito as he soared through the air. 

The both of them had been silent the whole time, but that changed when Link said out of nowhere, “You’re a really good dancer, Revali.”

The Rito jerked a little, totally caught off guard. He sputtered a prideful remark, but it was clear that the compliment made him flustered. “W-Well, of course I am. Are you really that surprised? A-As a matter of fact, I’m not only the best archer and flyer in the whole village, but also the best dancer.”

Link smirked, even though Revali couldn’t see it. “Uh-huh.”

“I am!”

“I believe you. With how great you dance, I wouldn’t have expected any less.”

Revali said nothing, so it became silent again. 

There was nothing between them for a while aside from the wind blowing and howling loudly.

Then after a couple of minutes, Revali cleared his throat and said, “Thank you.”

Link smiled and held on tighter.

   
  


H A R V E S T

 

It was the beginning of autumn then when the leaves of the trees started to change from colors of green to vibrant colors of yellow, orange and red. They had begun to fall, coating the ground while squirrels were scampering around to try and find enough nuts for their hibernation of the coming winter.

Revali was on the training grounds at Hyrule Castle, practicing his already perfect archery. He was standing about a hundred feet away from the target he was aiming at, ready to fire. 

All of his senses were totally focused on the center of the target and he slowed his breathing to ready the perfect shot. The whole world slowed down around him and there was only him, his bow, his arrow, and the target.

 

_ Ready… _

_ Aim… _

 

Out of nowhere, someone tapped him on his shoulder, scaring the daylights out of him. “Wah!” Revali shrieked as he jumped and accidentally released the arrow. 

It cut through the air and hit a tree a ways away from his mark with a  _ thnk.  _

Revali was catching his breath from being startled when he heard a burst of familiar laughter behind him. With emerald eyes wild with fury and maize beak grinding, he whipped around to see the culprit who ruined his perfect shot. 

There was Link, innocently smiling up at him, trying not to laugh. Seeing Link’s smile made his face soften a bit, but it was still scrunched up in anger. 

“Oh, haha. Very funny,” Revali snapped as he put his bow on his back so he could cross his arms at Link. “What do you want?” 

Link’s eyes fell to the ground while he rubbed the back of his neck, finishing off his laughter with a very soft chuckle. “Since you brought me to…” He took a moment to try his very best to say the old Rito word for the celebration again but was unable to after several weak attempts that made the Rito smirk. 

He let out a short sigh instead and continued. “... _ the banquet,  _ I thought it would only be fair if I invited you to an upcoming festival in my hometown.”

Revali blinked, his face relaxing and his beak hanging open slightly. “Really?” Slowly, he uncrossed his arms. 

The thought that Link actually wanted to invite him to something... _ delighted  _ him somehow.

The Hylian nodded violently, tossing around his dirty blonde hair. “Of course. Though, if you don’t want to, that’s fine. I just wanted to-”

“I’ll come,” Revali interrupted perhaps a bit too enthusiastically. When he saw Link look a bit excited at his quick response, he made an effort to look unamused rather than excited and raised his brows at him patronizingly. “I’ll come,” he repeated, much more calmly this time. “What sort of festival is it, exactly?”

Link’s smile turned into a toothy grin that stretched from ear to ear. “It’s the Harvest Festival. Autumn is beginning, which means the harvest is, too! And I don’t think anyone celebrates it as much as my hometown does. It's always a huge celebration there.”

“That’s right. I forgot that you Hylians have harvest season,” Revali said. “Us Ritos don’t have a harvest, due to the fact that we don’t have farms.” 

Link cocked his head and blinked up at Revali. “You don’t?”

“No.” Revali shook his head. “The soil in Tabantha can’t support agriculture. The Rito have relied on hunting, gathering, and trade for the last several thousand years. No farming, no harvest,” he explained while he shrugged his shoulders. “Either way, it would be interesting to see how you Hylians celebrate your harvest.”

“It’s not so different from…” Link opened his mouth to try to say the Rito word again, but he knew he would just make a fool of himself trying again so he closed it with a frown. “...the banquet. There’s lots of food, music, and dancing.”

“I see,” Revali said as he looked away, looking over at nothing in particular. 

It sounded like it could be...fun. 

He shifted his attention back over to Link and asked, “When is it?”

“A week from today.”

“Have you talked to Zelda or the king yet to make sure that we aren’t doing anything important then?”

“Yes. That day is free,” Link said while nodding again.

“Good. I’m looking forward to going.”

“Me, too.” Link grinned. “I can’t wait to see you dance again.”

“Stop,”  Revali spat, his cursed feathers ruffling. He reached behind him to take the bow off of his back. “Now if you excuse me, I would like to get back to my training that you so  _ rudely  _ interrupted.”

Link chuckled, smiling brightly. “Sorry. I’ll see you later then, Revali,” he said while taking a few steps backward. 

Revali smiled back in spite of himself. “See you later,” the avian replied before Link twisted around on his heels and started to walk towards the castle.

Revali found himself watching the Hylian walk down the trail into the entrance of the castle, admiring the way the dirty-blonde hair bounced and caught the light as he walked.

When he caught himself staring he shook his head vigorously and took an arrow out of his quiver to ready another shot. 

  
  


~~~

 

Loud.

Why were Hylians so loud?

It was like they were all being so freakishly loud on purpose.

Link was naturally soft-spoken and some would even say quiet, though extremely annoying at times. Yet, everyone from his hometown was boisterous and the air was full of annoying, bellowing laughter and cheers.

How did  _ he  _ come from a place like  _ this?  _

The town in question was hideously over-decorated to the point where it all looked tawdry. Every wall was covered in bright flags with pictures of autumn crops, and orange and red tinsel were wrapped around every lamp post.

The streets were lined with shops, their merchants yelling at every passerby to come and see their wares or try out their foods. Irritatingly, whenever one would yell out to Link, he would wander over with innocent curiosity, dragging Revali around with him wherever he went.

One merchant was selling soap, and after she droned on and on about how her soap was made with the rarest of ingredients and it was more fragrant than any other soaps that the other shops had to offer, Link gave her money and bought a bar, no questions asked.

When they were walking away, Revali looked down at Link, squinting his eyes. “You know, that was probably a lie to get you to buy her crummy soap.”

Link shrugged, investigating the bar of soap in his hand. “I know, but honestly I don’t know how to say ‘no’ when people try to sell me something.” He chuckled nervously. “I feel like it’s rude.”

Revali scoffed. “So what if it’s rude? You shouldn’t be wasting your money like that.”  
“Maybe you're right, but she wasn't lying about it smelling nice.” Link brought the soap to his nose, made an overdramatic sniff and then let out a satisfied sigh. “Here, you smell,” he beamed and brought the bar of soap up for Revali to smell. 

Revali rolled his eyes and leaned down to sniff and he instantly recoiled back. The smell of the bar was absolutely nauseating and the mint was so overpowering to that it stung his nares. 

He pushed the soap bar away with a disgruntled grunt.

“It's nice, right? Would you like to have it?” Link asked with childlike innocence.

“Absolutely not,” Revali chided.

“Are you sure? I really think you should have it.”

“Oh?” The Rito narrowed his eyes. “And why is that?”

“Because you smell like butt.”

Revali let out a harsh, offended gasp as his feathers fluffed up in anger. “Excuse me?! I do  _ not  _ smell like butt!”

Link said nothing and only grinned, shoving the soap bar into Revali's hands and continuing walking down the street. 

A twisted, exasperated expression hung on Revali's face and he stood stagnant in disbelief in the middle of the street for a moment. 

Then he grumbled to himself and started stomping after Link.

 

~~~

 

Eventually, well after Revali caught up, a merchant selling massive turkey legs called Link over, who instantly started to drool at seeing the drumstick. Revali had never seen someone pull out money of their pouch that fast before; Link acted like he was literally going to die if he did not get that turkey leg.

After he bought it, Link immediately started chowing down on the meat and Revali looked down at him distastefully. 

Link misread Revali’s expression, because he looked up at him and, with a full mouth, asked, “Do you want some?” while holding up the leg.

“No thanks,” Revali scoffed as he pushed the meat away from his face.

Link blinked up at Revali and then said, “Oh, right. That would be cannibalism, huh?”

“What?! No! Do I  _ look  _ like a turkey to you?!” the Rito squawked as he held out his wings.

The knight stared blankly at Revali for a moment before his lips slowly curled into a grin, revealing bits of meat stuck in between his teeth. “Yes.”

The avian’s eyebrows furrowed and his beak curled into a deep frown. “That’s very offensive.”

Link erupted into light laughter, spitting meat everywhere. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you, ‘Turkali’.” 

“‘Turkali’?” 

“Yeah. Turkali. It's supposed to be a pun. A cross between turkey and Revali?”

Revali stifled a laugh. “That isn't even funny. Just plain stupid.”

“Listen, I tried my best, okay?” Link frowned. 

“It was apoulcious,” Revali flatly said as he tossed his braids, turned, and continued to walk down the street, his face emotionless.

“Huh?” Link said as he hurried to catch up.

“Apoulcious. A cross between poultry and atrocious.”

Link let out a single hard laugh. “Ha! Now  _ that  _ is  _ fowl.” _

The Rito stopped in his tracks, making Link run right into him and almost fall to the ground. 

Revali threw his head back and laughed heartily, louder than he had for quite some time. When Link stepped around him to beside him, Revali hit him in the arm with his wing, almost making Link drop the rest of the turkey leg. “Good one,” he snickered before he kept on walking.

Link smiled proudly, his cheeks still full of turkey meat.

  
  


~~~

  
  


After an hour of Link pulling Revali around the festival to show him all the different booths and festival games, they eventually ended up in the town square. 

It was where all the roads of the town led to and was a big open area circled with buildings and people clapping to the music that was being played by a band nearby.

Some instruments used were familiar to Revali; there were lyres, flutes, and drums. Though, there was one instrument that he had never seen or heard before. It looked similar to a lute, but the sound it produced was much sharper and far more annoying. 

In the center of the square, however, were countless people dancing in a way that was most certainly  _ not  _ familiar in any way. Everyone was prancing around in lines like a bunch of dim-witted deer and bucked their legs like donkeys. The women flopped their legs around violently in such a pattern that tossed around their skirts messily and wildly, making it hard to watch.

Link’s eyes lit up and he let out an excited gasp. “Oh, Revali! Look! They’re doing the sirtaki!” He grabbed onto the Rito’s wing and pulled it, totally in a daze of exhilaration.

Revali’s entire face scrunched up in repugnance. “The  _ what?”  _

“The sirtaki! It’s an old dance that’s become a sort of tradition for our town. It’s everyone’s favorite,” Link explained, though all of his attention was on the dancers in the center of the square.

The men dancers then started to bound and leap, hopping around in the air and into each other like complete morons.

“You don’t say,” Revali muttered from the edge of his beak. 

“I’ve always wanted to learn how to do it. But I had no time for it when I was younger since I had to focus on training. I remember begging my father to let me join, but he would always drag me away to practice with my sword.” There was a distant look in Link’s eyes as he blankly watched the dance and recalled distant memories. “I’m pretty sure I threw my fair share of tantrums over that.”

Face still scrunched, Revali said, “Well, I don’t see why you would ever want to dance to this nonsense. It looks absolutely ridiculous.”

Link erupted into laughter, breaking himself out of his own trance. “I guess it  _ would  _ look funny to you, huh? Well, it may look funny, but it also looks like a lot of fun.”

Revali let out a snort, but then his eyes started to examine the area around him.

Link was right. Everyone had a wide grin on the faces; even the people who were only standing close by and clapping were smiling and laughing.

It did look like everyone was having the time of their lives, even though they were all making total fools of themselves.

“I suppose you’re right,” the avian said underneath his breath. 

His gaze fell down to Link when he could feel a pair of eyes burning into him. 

The Hylian’s wide blue eyes sparkled and he showed off a large toothy smile. “Do you want to join?”

“You have to be joking,” Revali spat, almost glaring down at Link.

“Nope! I’m not!” The knight shook his head, his face still cracked into a smile. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

“No.”

“Why not?” Link asked, cocking his head to the side.

“Unlike you, I do not relish in the idea of making an absolute fool of myself.”

Again, Link laughed. “Oh, don’t be so dramatic. It’ll be fun.” He started to pull on Revali’s wing, but the Rito remained still.

“No, thank you. You can go on ahead,” Revali said and ripped his wing out of Link’s grasp.

Link squinted up at Revali and grabbed at his wing again, pulling him towards the ring of dancers even harder this time. And, to Revali’s horror, he didn’t have enough strength to rival Link’s so he was successfully pulled further into the square. “What’s the point of us being here if we don’t have fun?”

“I would  _ really  _ appreciate if you would stop pulling me into doing things that I don’t want to do, Link!” Revali cried out, realizing that he had no choice in the matter now. The dancers had already noticed them and accepted them into the group.

 

It took a moment for Revali, and even Link, to get a hang of the dance, but thanks to the dancers being awfully patient and kind, they quickly picked it up without any bumps.

That stupid little Hylian was right. It looked ridiculous, but it was actually fun and it was even more enjoyable with the laughter that lit up the air and the smiles on the faces of everyone around them.

Revali himself actually started to smile, and even laugh from utter glee.

“I hate you,” he muttered to Link with a smirk spread on his beak.

Link said nothing and only winked.

  
  
  


D A Y  O F H Y M N S

  
  


It was the Day of Hymns, one of the biggest holidays in Hyrule. The royal Hylian family was hosting a massive ball at the castle to celebrate the holiday as they had done every year, with important persons from all across Hyrule attending. 

Hyrule Castle’s ballroom was wonderfully decorated for the occasion. There was a grand, golden chandelier lit with candles hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room. Hung on the walls were fairy lights twinkling and garlands made from pine and holly. In the corner next to the orchestra that played was a pine tree that was so large it almost reached the ceiling and it was adorned with all sorts of decorations and lights.

On the perimeter of the ballroom were tables and tables of hors-d'oeuvres and appetizers of all kinds; from the Gerudo’s ganoush to the Zora’s crab rissole. On one large, circular table, there was champagne and other such drinks bubbling in countless glasses, waiting to be drank.

The orchestra’s waltz music filled the room and most everyone was dancing happily on the dance floor with their partners. There was only a small handful of people that were not celebrating on the dancefloor though- that handful including the Rito Champion and the Hylian Champion.

Revali had been wearing formal Rito attire that night. His hair that was usually braided into smaller braids was in one thick braid held together with a large semi-circle bead. Clipped into the feathers on his temple was an ornament of the Rito symbol with bead tassels that matched his plum-colored outfit. He also wore thick upper arm cuffs the same bronze that the ornament was made of.

The Rito Champion, instead of dancing with the other attendees, was sitting at one of the benches closest to the doors, right next to where Link was standing as one of the guards. The Rito was sitting with one leg crossing the other, a very impolite way to sit at such a formal setting, while Link, who wore the royal guard uniform, stood stiffly beside him.

“It’s very unfair that you have to stand guard while the rest of us dance, don’t you think?” Revali said to Link before taking a sip out of the champagne glass that he held in his hand. “If anyone deserves to wind down and enjoy themselves, it's you.” He glanced up at Link from the corner of his eye. 

It was criminal how nice he looked in that uniform.

Link continued to look straight ahead at all of the people waltzing and smiled. “I don’t think so. Even if I wasn’t put on guard duty, I wouldn’t have danced. I probably would’ve just sat on the sidelines. These kinds of things make me nervous.” He chuckled and closed his eyes. “At least I’m doing something useful.”

 “I never would’ve thought that a gala would make the Hero of Legend  _ nervous,”  _ Revali jeered while he twirled the glass in his fingers. “You seemed to have had a lot of fun back in Rito Village and at your harvest festival. This isn’t much different. It’s just your usual celebration but with a sickening amount of glitz and glamor.”

Link licked his lips and gulped. Revali noticed that Link’s eyes were starting to shift around the room nervously when a moment ago he was looking ahead calmly. “Those  _ are _ much different. Those are for fun and the people there are genuine. Balls and galas aren’t like that.” He shifted in place as he added quietly, “I don’t know how to explain it, but it just…”

“It’s all superficial,” the Rito interrupted and took another drink of champagne. “Is that it?”

Link nodded, still facing ahead. “Y-Yes. I think that’s it.” It was silent for several seconds before he looked over at the avian sitting next to him and whispered, “Is that stupid of me?”

Revali scoffed at him. “Of course not. I would say the same, honestly. The ballroom is no place for me either. I’m too…” He scrunched up his face as he turned his head away from Link and down at the glass in his hands.. “...Belligerent.” 

The Hylian beside him blinked at him and then broke out of his perfect standing posture to lean forward and look at the other guards nearby. He made eye contact with the guard standing on the opposite side of the door and made a small motion to the dancefloor with his shoulder. 

The other guard looked back at him blankly for a moment as if processing and then nodded with a small smirk, making Link throw his head to look at Revali with a warm smile. “Revali, do you know how to waltz?”

Revali almost spat out his drink and squinted at Link. “Do  _ you?”  _

Link’s warm smile turned into a wide grin as he excitedly nodded his head. “I do! I’ve helped Zelda practice her waltz more times than I can count.”

The navy Rito could only stare up at him, one eyebrow raised.

The Hylian stepped in front of Revali to bow, hold out his hand, and ask with the brightest and most innocent smile Revali had ever seen, “May I have this dance?”

Revali’s emerald eyes widened as his feathers ruffled. His heart quickened and he sputtered, “D-Don’t you have a job to do?!” His eyes flicked back and forth between Link’s hand and Link’s face.

“You said it yourself. If anyone deserves to wind down and enjoy themselves, it's me,” the Hylian knight said with a sweet voice and even sweeter smile. “And I want to dance with you.”

“I-I don’t know…” 

“I can teach you to waltz. It’s easy. If you can do that amazing Rito dance, then surely you can do a simple waltz.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Revali hissed before looking away from Link and down at his glass again. “At least wait until all of my champagne is gone. I wouldn’t want it to go to wa-”

Link cut Revali off by reaching out for the glass in his hand, taking it, and drinking the last of the champagne in one fluid motion. The navy avian wanted to glare at Link, but instead, he looked at him in horror as he had just taken away his only excuse for not going on the dancefloor. “Well, it’s all gone now, so come on,” Link laughed while he put the empty glass on a table close by. He grabbed Revali’s wing and pulled him up out of his seat and towards all the dancers twirling around with their partners.

Revali let out tweets and screeches of protest as he tried to get a grip on the floor with his talons to resist Link’s pulling. Of course, Link went against his cries and only laughed, and Revali slid across the marble uselessly as his Hylian captor pulled him along towards a corner of the dancefloor.

One of the reasons why Revali had refused to go out there was that he knew  _ very well  _ that marble flooring was a Rito’s worst enemy. The material was horrifyingly slippery, especially when it was polished as much as the dance floor was, and with nothing for his talons to grip onto, he could only skitter across the floor as if he was trying to run on ice. It made him create a total spectacle of himself.

Urbosa, who was dancing with a man much shorter than she was, caught Revali’s eye with a snide smirk across her face. He glared back while he continued to skitter as Link pulled him along.

Link stopped suddenly which made Revali slip, and he would’ve fallen on his face if he hadn’t thrown his wings around Link’s waist mid-fall. 

“Don’t worry. I got you,” Link said with a chuckle as he grabbed one of the wings wrapped around him and took it in his hand. He put his other hand on Revali’s waist to help him up onto his feet and into a waltz position. “Put your other hand on my shoulder.”

“This is so stupid,” Revali muttered, but still hesitantly obeyed as he got his footing, using Link’s body to balance himself. Then something occurred to him and his face went sour. “Wait, why are  _ you  _ the leader? I’m taller than you!”

Link pursed his lips. “Because it would be easier to teach you if you followed. Don't be so stubborn.”

The corner of Revali’s beak curled downward into a frown. He had a point, but he found it humiliating being the follower. 

“It’s really simple. You basically just have to step at a rhythm of three like this- follow me,” Link said before he started to step in a sort of box-shape while counting ‘1,2,3’ along with his steps. 

Revali clumsily followed, his feet slipping on the marble as he tried to step along with Link. He held onto Link tightly, using his hand and shoulder to balance himself on the smooth marble that tried its best to make him fall.

Thankfully, after a few tries, Revali was able to follow Link’s steps, and eventually, he didn’t need the counting anymore. Once he got a handle on it, all he needed was the music produced by the band in the opposite end of the room to step at the right time. 

Link, who had his eyes on their feet as he taught Revali, looked up, his sapphire eyes shining as they crinkled into a smile. “You got it! Isn’t it fun?”

Revali felt himself start to smile, but he fought against it and frowned instead. “Hardly. I can’t believe you’re making me do this,”

“Oh, come on. I can tell that you’re having fun. Just admit it,” Link laughed, his soft chuckles lighting up the air around them.

Revali squinted, studying Link’s smile.

It was so bright and warm.

His feathers ruffled and he cursed to himself in his head.

“I see that you did your makeup differently,” Link said.

Revali huffed. “This is  _ not  _ makeup!”

“It looks nice. Your whole outfit is really nice, too.” Link looked at Revali up and down as they both continued to waltz, eyeing the clothes he wore and how it hung on Revali. “You look incredible,” he complimented as his cheeks began to flush.

Reval flinched, his feathers ruffling up again. He could have flaunted off his outfit; boasted about it and acted pridefully, but somehow, Link complimenting him made it hard to find any words and just turned him into a sputtering mess. “Th-Thank you.” With a huge gulp, he added, “That uniform looks really nice on you, too.”

The light pink on Link’s cheeks turned red as he said, “Really? I thought it made me look dumb.”

“No. It, uh, makes you look…” Revali started but stopped himself. His eyes shifted around the room as he quietly grumbled the last word.

“What?” Link questioned curiously, perking his head up to try and hear the Rito better.

Revali only grumbled again a tad louder, though it was still indiscernible.

Link’s eyes squinted into a small smile that only made it harder for Revali to talk properly. “What? It makes me look what?”

Revali spoke a bit louder from the edge of his beak, turning his head away from his partner. “...Handsome. It makes you look really handsome.”

The red on Link’s cheeks turned scarlet and spread out into his ears. Then he started to laugh, his snorts and giggles lighting the air between them. 

Revali’s navy feathers ruffled further. “What?! Why are you laughing?!” he shrieked, his brows furrowing. 

“I don’t know!” Link laughed while his eyes squeezed shut.

“Well, stop it!”

“Sorry,” Link chuckled, the rosy tint on his cheeks and ears lingering. 

They continued to waltz together in their own private corner for a time, both avoiding eye contact. While Revali felt awkward and nervous for a reason he didn’t know, he liked dancing alone with Link and appreciated that their dance was more private.

As he was just thinking that, Link, of course, had to look up at him with a childlike, excitable smile. “Now that you have a hang of it, why don’t we go to the middle of the dancefloor with the others?”

“Are you kidding?! You want me to go out there and make a fool of myself in front of every important person in all of Hyrule?!” the Rito crowed. “I would much rather stay over here, thank you very much.”

“Oh, come on. It’ll be fun.”

“Weren’t you the one that said that these sorts of things make you nervous? Why are you so bold all of a sudden?” Revali questioned, squinting down at Link.

The Hylian grinned. “Yes, I did say that. But being with you makes me braver.” Link grabbed Revali’s hand that was on his shoulder and began to pull him across the marble flooring towards the center of the dance floor. “Come on then! Let’s go dance with Zelda and the others!”

Revali uselessly slid across the floor, squawking, “I really wish you would stop doing this!”

Link laughed again. “Maybe I will when you quit being so stubborn!”

“Hylia, please have mercy on me,” Revali whispered underneath his breath as his Hylian captor again pulled him further into the dancefloor.

~~~

After they danced so long that their feet began to ache, they decided to take a break and go out onto the balcony. Revali had scolded Link for still skipping out on his guard duty to be with him instead, but Link paid him no mind and only shrugged.

The two of them rested their arms on the railings of the balcony and gazed out into the landscape that was dimly lit by the bright full moon up above. The winter wind was gentle and crisp, and it tossed around Revali’s braid and Link’s dirty blonde hair. As chilly as it was, it didn’t bother Revali at all and Link didn’t seem to mind it that badly. 

The light from inside pooled out onto the balcony floor and music and laughter were faintly heard. If it wasn’t for those two things, Revali would’ve forgotten that it wasn’t just him, Link, and the night sky above them then.

“Thank you,” Link said. His breath turned into fog around his mouth as he spoke.

Revali turned to look at Link, his large braid whipping around him. “Huh? For what?”

“For complimenting me. I never actually thanked you for that.” The Hylian looked up at the Rito from the corner of his eye with the edges of his lips crinkled upward.

“W-Well I didn’t mean anything by it,” Revali sputtered angrily. “It’s only polite to give a compliment after you receive one.”

Link snorted. “Since when? You never compliment people back. You just gloat.”

Revali said nothing and the corners of his beak flattened as he turned back towards the horizon in front of them.

With a chuckle, Link rolled his head and rested his elbows on the railing to set his head in his hands. He sighed. “Do you remember the origin of the Day of Hymns? I can never remember.”

Letting out a scoff, Revali turned around so that his back was leaning into the railing and he crossed his arms. “You’re the Hero of Legend, Link. Shouldn’t you know the story?”

“I know, I know,” Link groaned. “Sorry.”

“In the distant past, Hylia intervened in a war against good and evil,” Revali explained with a grunt. “Things were looking grim and the warriors on the side of good prayed to Hylia for help. She decided to assist them and came down to sing a hymn so sweet and lovely that it shattered the evil beasts’ malice and disintegrated them into nothingness.” He tilted his head back so he could see the vast sky above with all its twinkling stars. “It used to be more of a general celebration across Hyrule, but it somehow merged together with a Hylian winter holiday over time. ‘Midwinter’s Eve’ I think it was called.”

“Ah, right,” Link said plainly and then went quiet.

Revali continued to study the stars up above while the knight next to him kept staring out into the distance. 

They were quiet, leaving the air void of any noise except for the distant sounds of music and the howl of the winter wind.

“Hey, Revali?”

“Yes, Link?” The Rito turned his head just enough to look over at Link who was still staring straight ahead.

“Do you think Hylia even exists?” Link asked. The question seemed to still the wind around them, leaving them in an eerie silence. 

Somehow, it felt like the gods were watching them, listening in on their conversation. That feeling of anxiety kept Revali from moving, much less answering.

“I mean, if she were real and had such immense power, don’t you think that she would just swoop in whenever Hyrule was in trouble?” Link took his hands off his chin and interlocked them together.  “Couldn’t she just take care of Ganon herself? It doesn’t make sense to leave that to some mortals.”

Revali was quiet for a moment, thinking, and clicked his beak. “I don’t think it works like that.”

Ignoring that statement, Link continued asking questions Revali didn’t have the ability to answer. “What if that’s why Zelda hasn’t connected with her powers yet? Because Hylia either doesn’t exist or has been dead for a long time? What if that’s the reason why Ganon is so strong now? What if-”

Revali twisted around to put a wing on Link’s arm to stop him. “Link, stop. Everything will turn out fine. Just give it time.” He softened his grip as he added, “I’m sure there’s a reason for it all. There has to be.”

The knight looked up at the Rito, his sapphire eyes wide open as the moonlight shone on his face. “What...What if I’m not really…” Link’s voice trembled weakly as he spoke.

“I said  _ stop,”  _ Revali snapped, his grip firm on Link’s arm again as he pulled him closer. “If there’s one thing I know, it’s that you’re the hero that Hyrule needs. I refused to see it at first, but I’ve since learned how wrong I was. You’re strong, kind, brave and heroic. You’re all the proof that  _ I  _ need to know that there is a Goddess above us. So, would you just quit it with all this nonsense?” Revali’s emerald eyes were blazing with something that wasn’t quite fury but something similar. “Whether or not Hylia exists doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re here and you can single-handedly take down anything, including Ganon.  _ I  _ believe in you, so why don’t  _ you _ believe in yourself?!” His voice rose higher and higher as he spoke, to the point where he shouted the question.

Even though Revali was looming over him and shouting in his face, Link’s eyes were not full of fear at all. Instead, they looked overjoyed. It made Revali let go and draw back.

“Alright,” Link simply said quietly.

Revali blinked at him before twisting his head away and creasing the edges of his beak into an embarrassed expression, but he looked back over at him when Link reached out for Revali’s wing.

“Thank you,” Link murmured, eyes twinkling.

Revali looked away again and muttered gruffly, “You’re welcome.”

They stood like that quietly for a moment; Revali avoiding Link’s eyes awkwardly and Link smiling up at him; until Revali felt something cold land on his beak. He checked what it was with his wing and felt something cold and wet. Looking up, he could see that the heavens began to release snow down onto the earth. It fell down silently and landed softly on the two of them.

“Ah, it’s snowing,” Link said thoughtfully and let go of Revali’s arm to hold his hand out for the snowflakes to fall onto. They melted as soon as they landed due to his warmth, but he kept his hand out nonetheless.

“We better get back inside,” Revali mumbled. “The snow will soil my clothes.”

Link bubbled with laughter. “Yeah, we wouldn’t want that, now would we?” He shook the remaining snow off his hand and added, “Let’s go dance some more.”

Revali groaned. “Now I didn’t say that. Don’t you still have a job to do anyway?”

“Oh, stop acting like you hated it so much. I know you love to dance.”

“Who said that I loved to dance?! And gods, how have you not been fired from being a guard yet?! Go do your job and leave me alone.”

The knight said nothing and smiled brightly up at Revali.

The Rito stared down the Hylian until he let out another groan. “Ugh, fine. Whatever. Let’s go dance I guess.”

Link grinned and grabbed Revali’s wing to pull him through the open doors and back inside to the dancefloor.

And Revali, to his own dismay, smiled to himself.

  
  


H A T C H D A Y 

  
  


Link knocked on Revali’s door one morning, excited for the Rito to see what he had gotten for him that day. 

“Go away,” the Rito barked from the other side of the door.

Even though it was his special day and he probably should have obeyed, Link ignored the order, opened the door and walked inside.

Revali was sitting on a stool in front of a vanity. His navy hair was down, trailing down his back in soft curls. His face was void of any sort of paint or makeup like he usually had on, and he was just dabbing a finger into a container of what looked like red paint. 

Once Link walked into the room, Revali twisted around to look at him. His thick hair tossed around him wildly as his brows furrowed and his feathers ruffled. “Link! I told you to go away!” the Rito shrieked while turning away from Link, trying to shield his bare face from him.

The Hylian continued to step towards Revali and leaned to the side at an attempt to look at his face closer. Revali clenched his eyes shut and turned his head even further away from Link.

“I’ve never seen your hair down before. I didn’t know it was that long,” Link said while smiling.

The Rito said nothing and only turned his entire body away from him on his stool. 

Despite Revali’s clear demand to leave, Link stepped around him to get another look at him. “Wow,” he blurted out quietly, mostly to himself. “You look so much different without your makeup-”

“Excuse me?! I already told you! It is  _ not  _ makeup!” Revali screeched as he threw his head over his shoulder to glare at Link, making his hair toss around again. 

Link jumped back a foot, his curious expression twisting into one of slight fear.

“It’s Rito face paint-” Revali started to scream again before he stopped. His eyes flicked to Link’s arms when he noticed that he was holding something behind his back. “What do you have behind your back?” Revali asked slowly, an eyebrow raising as his feathers that had ruffled with exasperation settled.

Link’s fearful face morphed into an ugly, smug look.

The Rito turned around in his seat so that he was facing Link, his eyebrows narrowing. “Link. What is in your hand?”

The Hylian’s arms shuffled behind him before he held out his left arm, hand totally empty.

“For Hylia’s sake,” Revali breathed. “The  _ other one.”  _

Link brought his left arm back behind his back, his arms shuffled again, and then he held out his right arm, which was, of course, empty.

Revali tipped his head back and let out a long, rough groan. “For the love of- you know what I mean!”

Snickering, the knight obliged, showing off what he had been hiding behind his back. It was a chiffon cake, decorated with frosting and strawberries. A few lit candles were stuck around it, though Link’s smile shone brighter than the tiny flames.

“Happy birthday!” 

With emerald eyes blinking crazily, Revali’s face fell and his beak hung ajar. “Wh...what?”

“Happy birthday!” Link cheerfully repeated. “I baked this cake especially for you.”

“How...How did you know?” Revali choked while he looked up at Link. The archer’s face looked heartbroken in a way, and Link wondered if this was a bad decision.

“Uh..at..the banquet,” Link started to explain, his smile faltering. “You never mentioned your birthday, so I asked around there when you were busy. It took a while to find someone that knew, but eventually, I talked with the Elder. Everyone else mentioned that you don’t celebrate your birthday, so no one had any idea.” Revali’s reaction made him feel guilty, so his mouth crinkled down into a frown as he spoke. 

This was a mistake. 

There was  _ obviously _ a reason why he had kept it a secret. 

How could he have been so stupid?

“I’m sorry. I should’ve just left it alone if you don’t like to celebrate. I shouldn’t have-”

“No,” Revali interrupted and shook his head. “No...I just…” He looked down at his lap and closed his eyes. He remained still for a moment, then looked up at Link with a big, warm smile on his face. “Thank you.”

The Hylian smiled in return and nodded. “Would you like to have some right now?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll go get some plates and forks then,” Link said before he set the plate of cake on the vanity and turned around to rush towards the kitchen.

  
  


It was really hilarious how that, even though the Rito and Hylians lived so close to each other, they were completely in the dark when it came to each other’s rituals, beliefs, and traditions. Even after the two of them had taught each other so much about each other’s cultures, there were still so many little differences that they were learning almost every day.

When Link told Revali to blow out his candles and make a wish, he scrunched up his entire face and said, “What?”

“Blow out the candles and make a wish,” He repeated slowly.

“Is that some other Hylian tradition? Is that why all those candles are stuck in the cake?”

“Do you not blow out candles in Rito Village?” Link cocked his head.

Revali scoffed. “Why would we? What purpose does it even serve?”  
Link thought a moment before shrugging and saying, “Just to make a wish.”

“Like wishing on a star? That’s something your people do, right?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Well, that is very childish.”

Link gave Revali a playful glare, making the Rito roll his eyes.

“Fine,” he growled. “I’ll blow out these stupid candles…”

“Don’t forget to make a wish. And don’t tell me what you wished for, or else it won’t come true.”

“How does  _ that _ work?” Revali spat.

“Don’t ask me! Just blow the candles already,” Link snapped jokingly.

Revali grumbled and then opened his beak to blow.

Link hadn’t made a chiffon cake before, so he was very glad that it turned out as good as it did. And while he wouldn’t outwardly say it, it was clear from the tiny smiles that Revali was enjoying the cake plenty. 

Link didn’t need a ‘thank you’ from him. 

Those smiles were enough.

“I have something else I want to give you,” Link said as he put down his plate and hopped off Revali’s bed to make a dash towards his room to retrieve the other gift without another word.

He came back with a box and plopped it down by Revali, who was sitting on the bed as they ate. The box was crudely wrapped in wrapping paper, with a bow slapped on top. 

Even though Link had done a horrible job at wrapping, seeing the gift made Revali’s eyes widen and made him totally still again. 

“Well go on, then.” Link excitedly said. “Open it.”

With slow hands, the Rito did as he said and reached out for the gift. He slid it across the bed toward himself before placing it on his lap to open it. 

Warily he tore away at the wrapping paper to find the box inside. And even more slowly, he opened the box and his eyes sparkled when he saw what was inside. He took out the contents, revealing a plum-colored vest with Vah Medoh’s symbol embroidered on the end of the sleeves with golden thread.

Holding it up and staring at it, Revali’s emerald eyes continued to shine before he put it down and swung his head to look at Link. He opened his beak, probably to say something, but nothing came out.

Link rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke. “I sort of got the idea from Zelda...I made it with the fabric from one of my old tunics. I thought the color was perfect since it’s the same color of that thing you wore on Day of Hymns, and you looked so nice in it, so…” He let out a nervous chuckle and looked down at his feet. “Mipha and Zelda both helped me make it of course. I’m really bad at sewing. I just kept pricking myself with the needle…” 

Oh, gods. He was rambling. But he couldn’t stop.

“I just thought that... if you wore it, you could carry a bit of me wherever you went. But of course, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to-” 

Suddenly Link was cut short by Revali jumping forward to wrap his wings around him tightly into an embrace. Link's cheeks and ears flushed red as the navy feathers brushed against him and he was too stunned to hug him back.

Revali just held him silently for a few moments until he finally croaked out, “I...I love it, Link. Thank you.”

Link smiled and wrapped his arms around him. “You’re welcome.”

“By the way, it isn’t ‘birthday’. It’s ‘hatchday’,” Revali grumbled into Link’s ear so quietly that he almost didn’t understand what he said. “I was hatched. Not born.”

Link chuckled. “Of course. My bad.”

  
  


~~~

“By the way, Revali, I’m sorry if bringing up your birth- I mean,  _ hatchday,  _ upset you,” Link said after they had finished the cake and he started stacking the plates on top of each other. “When I found out you don’t celebrate it, I should’ve just left it alone.”

Revali waved his hand, as if waving off Link’s guilt. “No, no. Don’t feel guilty. If anything, you made me want to celebrate it again.”

Link could feel himself blush just a little, and he grinned. “Well then, I’m glad to hear it.” 

With emerald eyes falling to his lap and corners of his beak crinkling into a frown, Revali heavily sighed. “The reason why I don't celebrate it is-” He interrupted himself with another sigh, and then shut his eyes and shook his head. “Nevermind. It doesn't really matter.”

“Of course it does,” Link murmured as his eyebrows creased together.

“No, no.” Revali shook his head more violently. “It's nothing. I don't want to bombard you with my own personal issues. It's fine.” He kept his eyes closed and only opened them when Link touched his hand gently, his eyes snapping down to where he touched him.

The Rito tossed his head to look over at the wall then and muttered, “Alright, fine.” He took a deep breath and then looked back over at Link beside him. “Long story short, my parents abandoned me right before I was about to hatch. They dropped my egg off on the Elder and then flew off to Hylia knows where.” His eyes rose up to the ceiling as he continued, his voice slightly wavering. “So when I hatched, there were no loving faces of parents smiling down at me, excited to see my arrival. In fact, I was completely alone in the Elder's hut when I hatched. Obviously, I don't remember it at all, considering I was barely a minute old. But I do remember the feelings I had felt. Helplessness. Loneliness. It was the very first thing that I ever felt in my whole life.” Tears began to well up in his eyes, so he tried to blink them away. “I suppose that feeling has stuck with me. Every hatchday, I always regress back to that moment. And all I feel are those dark emotions with the reminder that my parents wanted nothing to do with me.” He shrugged and sniffled. “I've done a good job keeping it a secret so far, but apparently I flunked up somewhere.”

Well, that made total sense.

Link wouldn't want to celebrate his birthday either if something like that happened to him.

So, he held onto Revali's hand and squeezed tightly. The Rito rubbed at his eyes to get rid of the tears before he looked at Link.

“I'm so sorry that happened. That was so heartless of them to just leave their child like that.”

“While I certainly have told myself that many times,” Revali said with a sniffle. “I sincerely believe that they must have had a good reason to. They must have.”

Link squeezed Revali's hand tighter. “No. There is not a single good reason why a parent would ever abandon their own kid like that.”

Somehow that made Revali's shaky frown turn into a clear smile. “Maybe.” The avian let out a wavering breath and then looked at Link from the corner of his eye. “But they don't matter anymore. I...I have a reason to celebrate now.”

Again, Link could feel his cheeks warm up and turn a beet red. To cover up his flusteredness, he chuckled with a smile. “I'm glad then.”

“Yes. Me, too.”

  
  


H E A R T’S  B L E S S I N G

  
  


It was Heart’s Blessing that day, a holiday celebrated all across Hyrule at the end of winter. Of course, every region had their different traditions and different versions of it, but it was generally the same. It was a special day for lovers to spend time with one another, and the common belief among every race was that the love spread on that day helped the winter thaw and spring bloom.

Of course, before everything, Revali had hated the holiday and thought it was totally foolish. To him, it was an excuse for everyone to slack off on their duties and fool around with another like-minded moron.

But now, things were different.

Very different.

  
  


Revali was just finishing braiding his hair when he noticed Link standing in the open doorway from the corner of his eye. He looked over at him for a moment before looking back into the mirror of the vanity. “You really need to stop just barging in. It’s creepy.”

“Sorry,” Link blurted nervously. “I really don’t mean to. I just…”

Revali twirled around in his seat to cross his arms at Link.

Link scratched at the back of his head and kicked at the floor anxiously.“Um...there’s this Hylian holiday that’s today and I-”

“Heart’s Blessing,” Revali finished for him flatly.

“You...You know about that?” Link asked, his face relaxing.

Revali rolled his eyes. “Of course I do. It’s a  _ Hyrulian  _ holiday. Not a  _ Hylian  _ one.”

Link blinked and his mouth tightened. “Oh.”

The room was totally silent and the air thick for a few solid seconds. 

Link looked around the room, his eyes bright like he wanted to say something and Revali clenched his wings tightly.

“There’s...something I want to ask you…” Link faltered quietly.

“There’s something I want to ask you, too,” Revali choked.

Again, the room fell still for a painfully long moment. The air was so thick that it could’ve been cut with a knife, at least, it was before they both shrieked in unison, “Would you want to celebrate with me?!”

They were both taken aback by the other asking the same question. Revali turned away and covered his beak and Link chuckled nervously while scratching at his cheek. “I...guess that answers my question then…” Link muttered.

There was a heavy, awkward silence again that weighed down on Revali.

This wasn't going too well so far.

Revali coughed at an attempt to shatter the silence. “I actually got you something,” He said gruffly before he got out of his stool to walk over to his bed and crouch underneath it to pull something out. 

He slid out an extremely large basket and hoisted it up before striding over to Link to stand in front of him. The Hylian looked up at him, confused. 

Without warning and with an expressionless face, Revali dumped out all of the contents of the basket onto Link.

Link jumped and his eyes widened in surprise as dozens of flowers fell on him and onto the floor around him. “...Are these nightshades?” he asked, taking one of the flowers off the top of his head and studying it.

Revali nodded his head, avoiding eye contact.

“There sure are a whole lot of them,” Link continued as he bent down to pick more up.

Still looking away, Revali spat, “Of course there are. I picked all of the ones at Lovers Pond.”

Link blinked frantically and exclaimed, “you  _ what?!” _

“I picked all of the ones at Lovers Pond!” Revali hissed, turning back towards Link with furrowed brows and wild eyes. “I couldn’t leave any for anyone else! Obviously.”

Revali jolted when Link started to laugh, which only made him laugh harder. “You didn’t leave any for anyone else? That’s so mean. You didn’t have to do that.”

“Yes, I did! You deserve all the flowers there, so I got them!” When Link only continued to laugh, Revali snapped, feathers ruffled, “Stop laughing!”

The Hylian’s laughter settled to a soft chuckle and he stepped forward and over the flowers in front of him to gently touch Revali’s arm and look up at him. “Thank you, Revali. That’s really sweet of you.” He glanced down at the nightshade he was twirling in his fingers before looking back up, a warm smile spread on his lips. “I think they would look really nice in your hair. I know that you got them for me, but would it be okay if I put some in your braids?”

Revali gulped. “I...I don’t see why not. Could I put some in yours?”

“Sure.”

Link picked the flowers in his hand off of their stem, then stepped forward to stick them in Revali’s navy braids. He handed Revali another nightshade off of the ground and the Rito plucked the flowers off of the stem as well before hesitantly stepping closer to Link to place them with shaky hands in the hair on the side of Link’s head that was tight from his ponytail.

Apparently, Revali was holding in his breath when he was putting those flowers in Link’s hair, because as soon as he stepped back, he released a huge gust of air that he was keeping in his stomach.

Link stepped around Revali to look at himself in the mirror of the vanity, and he smiled for a second at his reflection before he bit his lip. He and his reflection stared at each other for a good moment before he finally turned back around to face Revali.

“I got you something, too. Or rather, made you something.” The knight’s hands fumbled with each other, and his cheeks started to glow. When Revali did little to respond aside from raising his eyebrows and clicking his beak, Link blurted, “Since you liked the cake that I made you for your birthday, I thought that you might like it if I made something for you again.”

Revali could only blink his eyes at Link like a total buffoon.

Link misinterpreted Revali’s blank stare and sputtered, “I, ah, I made some creamy heart soup, but if you don’t like it, that’s fine! I probably should’ve asked if you even liked it at all before I made it. I just-” He rubbed at his arm nervously.

“No, don’t worry! I do like creamy heart soup. I promise,” Revali assured, waving his hands around. “Thank you.”

At that, Link perked up and his anxious rubbing ceased. “Oh, good! I just…” His words trailed off and he looked away. “I thought that it would make sense to make it today since there’s that saying that eating it with another person will bring you closer together...”

Revali froze, only his eyes moving to meet Link’s. “Oh, that’s right. That  _ is  _ a saying, isn’t it?”

Nodding his head, Link bowed his head to avoid more eye contact. “Y-Yeah. Anyway, it’s in the kitchen, so…” 

“A-Alright. Lead the way then.”

Automatically, Link obeyed and twisted around on his heels to head out of the room, Revali trailing behind him.

Revali was surprised that the servers would let Link, the Hero of Legend, use the kitchen. But, knowing him, he probably used his natural endearment and charm to convince them to let him bake or cook whenever he wanted. And, quite frankly, why wouldn’t they? It was clear that he enjoyed making food and he was good at it, so it would be even more shameful if they kept him away from the stove and oven because of his status.

Link poured the soup into two separate bowls for the both of them, and Revali already knew it was going to be amazing before he even had a bite. 

It looked absolutely delicious. The small balls of fresh hydromelon and voltfruit floated gracefully in a glorious mixture of fruit and milk. The smell was incredible, too- the wonderful fruity smell wafted in the air around them.

They took their bowls to the small, private dining room separate from the Dining Hall. There, they sat and ate their food in an eerie silence. It was no surprise that the sweet soup was amazing, so despite the heaviness in the air, Revali had to compliment Link on his work.

Link kept his eyes on his food, but the corners of his mouth crinkled into a tiny smile as he thanked him before taking another spoonful.

After they were done, Link grabbed both of their bowls and the spoons and headed back into the kitchen, and, of course, Revali followed close behind, feeling awfully awkward as he did.

“If only we weren’t busy later today and tomorrow, or else we could go somewhere together,” Link said, suddenly breaking the strange quietness, causing Revali to jump a little. As Link spoke, he placed their empty bowls into the sink and reached out for a scrubber to clean them with.

The ave’s eyes fell on Link, confused as to why he, Hyrule’s prized warrior, would insist on doing something so beneath him like washing the dishes when there were literally servants to do that.

He was so humble.

It was irritatingly endearing.

“I would've loved to go somewhere with you,” Link added underneath his breath.

Revali’s heart clenched hearing that, though he tried to act like he wasn’t phased at all. “Oh? And where would you have wanted to go?” He walked over to where Link was and leaned against the sink.

Link uselessly stammered, “I-I don’t know. Just anywhere but here, where I…” He gulped before finishing, “...Could be alone with you.”

Of course, Revali’s feathers ruffled and he tried desperately to smooth them down as quickly as he could without being too obvious. “A-Ah. I see.” 

“I mean…” Link scratched at his cheek again. “We could go walk in the castle garden for a bit...if you wanted. Before that dinner we have to go to starts.” 

Revali slowly turned his head to look at the knight beside him. When Link reciprocated the gaze and they made eye contact, he quickly turned his head away and rubbed at his wing. “Sure. That would be nice.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw Link look away and down into the sink, smiling to himself.

Smiling that warm smile of his that made butterflies in Revali’s stomach.

  
  


For a late winter day, it was very sunny and warm. The thick, gray clouds that had been there the day before had drifted away, leaving behind a bright blue sky and a shining sun. It shone down on the garden with its magnificent rays, lighting up the flowers, brightening the leaves on the tree’s canopies, and making the water of the fountains sparkle brilliantly.

Revali had never actually spent time in the garden before unless it was to quickly fetch someone who was there, so he was amazed at its beauty and looking about himself in wonder.

The garden had a cobblestone pathway that started at the ivy-covered entranceway and led around the garden, leading its visitors to its various sites.

There were all sorts of flowers and other flora that Revali hadn’t seen before, though he recognized the nightshades and all sorts of familiar wildflowers that were planted everywhere. Flowers of all different colors of the rainbow thrived in their beds, and there were even decorative boulders doting the garden where swift violets grew. Sycamore and oak trees stood at the borders of the garden and its path, giving the two of them shade from the sun that beat down on the flowers. 

There was shrubbery clipped into various shapes; some into animals and some into surreal shapes; and there were stone statues of gods, goddesses, and famous people from history lining the path.

An occasional beautiful fountain was displayed in the center of the pathway, diverging the cobblestone path to show off their craftsmanship and the water spouts. But as gorgeous as the fountains were, they certainly were not the centerpieces of the garden.

And, finally, in the center of the garden was a pond. The sun had hit the clear water so perfectly that it glimmered. Revali could see fish swimming in the shallow waters while lily pads floated above them.

As they walked through the garden quietly, their arms brushed together many times. Each time it happened, Revali’s heart lurched and he tried his best to remain calm. 

Despite his efforts to not react, both he and Link jolted whenever they accidentally touched and turned their heads away from each other to act like they didn’t notice and were simply admiring the garden around them. As to be expected, Revali’s navy feathers ruffled and Link’s cheeks turned beet red with every brush. 

There were times that Revali would glance at Link, discreetly admiring the way his hair bounced as he walked and how his eyes were the most lovely shade of blue. But almost every time, Link caught his eye and noticed him looking, the edges of his lips turning upwards into a small smile. That only made Revali’s heart beat faster and throw his head off to the side to look at another flower bush.

There were even times that Revali caught Link looking up at him, and Link’s mouth would waver into an embarrassed frown while he averted his gaze the same way that Revali did when it was the other way around.

Sometime during their walk, Link suddenly reached out of nowhere and wrapped his fingers around Revali’s pinky, all while staring straight ahead. It made the avian feel like he was going to molt, jump out of his skin, or both. Link’s touch sent shock waves through him and his skin felt extremely hot. Somehow though, he was able to compose himself, and he curled his pinky around Link’s fingers.

Was this their way of holding hands?

Was Revali really holding hands with Link?

Something in his stomach sturred.

  
  


After a long walk of awkward silences and flustered glances, Link led Revali back to the center pond without a word. Next to the pond was a grand oak tree, wildflowers circling both it and a bench that sat beside it. The knight gently pulled the Rito to the bench and then motioned for him to sit down.

Revali hesitantly obeyed and then looked up at Link, who stood in front of him with his knees turned into each other and face dark with worry. Inquisitively, Revali cocked his head to the side, rose an eyebrow, and patted the seat next to him. 

Link’s eyes were fixed on the ground below him, and he fidgeted with the bottom of his tunic.

Something was wrong, but Revali had no idea what.

“Link? What’s wrong?” He slowly asked.

Link’s fidgeting got more intense and he bit his lip.

“What are you-” Revali began, but he was promptly interrupted.

At the speed of light, Link grabbed Revali’s head, pulled it up towards him as he leaned down, and planted his soft lips on his cheek, underneath his eye. Warmth spread from this lips to the entirety of Revali’s body, causing his feathers to flare once more and to make him feel so light that he was afraid he was going to float away.

Butterflies returned to tickle the linings of his stomach and his heart felt as if it was going to leap right out of his chest. If it weren’t for the utter shock over being kissed keeping him bound to his body, he would have been completely overcome by pure euphoria.

Link broke away, but only just enough so that their eyes met. Revali didn’t get to put a word in, because without missing a beat, Link said with a voice as sweet and smooth as honey, “I love you.”

Right then, a soft breeze blew, rustling the leaves of the willow tree above them and tossing Link’s hair around as his bright, sapphire eyes gazed into Revali’s emerald ones.

Revali couldn’t breathe. His breath was caught in his throat, along with his heart that pounded faster than ever.

The most amazing person in the world  _ loved him.  _

Out of everyone in the world, Link actually  _ chose him. _

But did he love him back?

He pondered it for a second as he studied Link’s face who remained completely still as the wind continued to whistle.

Of course he did, though he never put much thought into it. Though, he never put much thought into anything, especially  _ feelings. _

But he certainly did  _ feel.  _ He felt the way that the whole world seemed to light up when Link smiled and a room instantly got warmer when he entered.

He felt the way it made him feel when Link’s eyes fell on him; how he was honored and delighted that such a beautiful person would want to look at him.

He felt the way sparks flew when Link would touch him, even if it was an accidental brush of an arm or hand.

He felt the way he perked up when Link even just spoke to him.

Of course he loved him back. How did he not realize it sooner? He took all of the flowers from Lovers Pond for him for heaven’s sake.

Perhaps it was out of fear that Link didn’t feel for him the way that he did him. But that fear had dispersed and blew away in the wind that circled them that late winter afternoon.

He opened his beak and at first, only weak stutters and useless sputters fell out. But after a few tries, he managed to breathe, “I love you, too.”

The Hylian knight’s lips curled into a wide smile before he again lowered his face to plant several more kisses on Revali’s cheeks. The Rito squawked out of surprised fluster and he ruffled up so much that he looked like a big blue cotton ball.

“Ah! Hey! Link! Link, stop!” Revali screeched while struggling until he managed to grab Link's shoulders and push him up and away.

Link looked down at him with big, frightful eyes and seemingly gulped; his explosive joy deteriorating and replaced with the worry of having gone too far.

Revali kept a straight face and wrinkled his eyebrows together. He squinted at Link with counterfeit annoyance, but his hard gaze faltered and flicked around as soon as he opened his beak. “I understand that you must be so overjoyed that someone like  _ me  _ has returned your affections,” he choked. “But for the love of Hylia, please stop getting slobber all over my face.” His beak cracked into a small grin, making Link's beautiful smile return.

The Hylian then dove down and wrapped his arms around the avian, and rested his chin on Revali's shoulder. Revali slowly reciprocated the embrace as soon as his heart stabilized and they stayed like that for a good while, until he found himself nuzzling the side of Link's head tenderly.

Link's eyes, which had been closed, shot open and looked over at Revali, a confused, yet flustered, look in his eye.

“Ah, th-this is…” the navy Rito began to stutter like an idiot. “This is, I guess, the Rito equivalent of kissing. We nuzzle each other's heads to show romantic affection. B-But if you don't like it, I can stop.”

Instead of saying a word, Link only grinned and proceeded to nuzzle his own forehead into Revali's soft feathers. “No, I love it. It's sweet.”

Revali uselessly stammered for a moment before nuzzling back, still in utter disbelief that Link had actually felt the same way and that they were showering each other in affection.

Holding each other, they gazed out onto the shining waters of the pond in front of them for what felt like hours. They sat side by side, Link huddled into Revali's chest as the avian had his wings around him, holding him close.

There was a certain magic between them then; the unshakable feeling that the world belonged to just the two of them, with the exception of the tree that rustled above them and the wind that continued to toss their hair around.

The only sound was their light breathing, which, was more romantic than Revali thought breathing could ever be. Link's breaths were light and soft, and Revali could feel them through the feathers he was cuddled into.

But this wonderful, though very unfamiliar, sense of serenity shattered when Link opened his mouth to ask a simple question.

“So, are we...together now?”

That question seemed to bring reality into this dreamlike situation, stealing the breath right out of Revali's throat.

Unable to answer right away, he gulped and dryly stammered once more. “I...I suppose? Unless you don't want to be, that is.”

Revali wasn't looking at Link, but he felt him shake his head against his chest. “No, I want it more than anything, Revali.” The hands he had curled into his stomach opened and reached out for the Rito's cheek. “I want to be with you. I think I've wanted to for a while now.”

Again, everything in Revali's entire body froze and the skin underneath his feathers heated up. He opened his beak to say something, but not even a simple breath could escape his throat.

_ I think I have, too. _

Promptly, he snapped it shut, and simply nodded.

The tips of Link's fingers tickled against the side of Revali's face, making him shakily look down at the Hylian in his arms. His eyes were large and shone like a thousand stars and he had his usual smile that was brighter than the very sun that blazed above them.

There wasn't anything more beautiful than him.

Revali was sure on that.

“You know,” Revali started after clearing his throat. “There's a Rito custom.”

Link blinked up at the avian in interest.

“You see...when two Rito wish to court, they exchange feathers and braid them into their hair. To sort of show off their relationship to everyone.” His gaze shifted over to nothing in particular.

Link's upper lip curled into a grin. “Do you want me to do that? To braid your feathers in my hair?”

Revali jumped. “No! I was just saying. I..I mean, yes, but th-that is...only if you want to- Ow!” He crowed out in pain, interrupting his own sentence when Link had swiftly reached over to his arm and plucked out two feathers. “That hurts, you know!” He squawked, rubbing where he had his feathers yanked out.

Link playfully brought the feathers to his lips to hide his widening smirk. “Sorry about that. I wanted to get them before you changed your mind.” After studying the feathers for a moment with his eyes and hand, he stuck the feathers above his ear, below the flowers that were still there in his hair. “I'll braid it in later.”

Without realizing it, the corners of Revali's turned upwards. “Now, what am I supposed to do then? Any hidden feathers that need to be plucked?”

“Ha, no, unfortunately,” Link said with light laughter. “But you should keep the flowers in your braids. I know you got them for me, but they look very nice there.” With a wag of a finger, Link pointed to the braids that were still decorated with the nightshades he put there.

“Only if you continue to supply me with them.”

“And only if you continue to supply  _ me _ with your feathers.”

“Are you kidding me? I refuse to pluck myself like a turkey, even for you. That's all you're getting, so don't lose them,” Revali chuckled while borderline glaring at the Hylian in his arms. 

Link pursed his lips and then sarcastically sighed. “I guess it's only fair. I don't want to date poultry.”

Revali scoffed, trying to sound offended, but failed. He turned his head up to the sky, deciphering what time it was by the position of the sun. “As much as I'm enjoying wasting away on this very uncomfortable bench, we should go. That insufferable dinner we have to go to should be starting soon.”

With an exaggerated groan, Link nuzzled even closer to Revali. “I don't want to! I'm comfortable right here.”

“Yes, me, too,” the avian said and moved his wings down to Link's back to move him off of his leg so he could stand. “It really is a shame that we can't stay here. Though I'm sure that we can sit next to each other, so it won’t be too bad.”

Link's frown slipped into a wide beam, and he nodded. “You're right.” He hopped off the bench and twisted his back to make it pop, and snorted at Revali's disgusted reaction. “Come on then. Let's go,” he said and then held out his hand to Revali.

Revali looked down at the outstretched hand and took it, his wing totally engulfing the tiny Hylian's hand. 

They exchanged sweet smiles and then they were off, holding hands as they crossed the garden once more.

  
  


~~~

  
  


Revali was thoughtfully gazing out into the horizon of the grasslands that he and Link were crossing to get to a town for business when a dandelion was suddenly thrust in front of his face.

He slowly turned his head and raised an eyebrow, utterly confused at seeing an excited Link grinning at him. “What?” The avian questioned, gently pushing the weed away from his face.

“It's a dandelion,” Link explained, the smile still plastered on his face.

“Thanks. I can see that,” Revali retorted. “But why are you so excited about this weed? I almost breathed the seeds into my nares.”

Link's blue eyes blinked wildly. “Oh! Right, I guess you wouldn't know.” Twirling the dandelion around in his fingers, he continued. “It's Hylian folklore that if you close your eyes, make a wish and blow the seeds away, your wish will come true. I know it's childish, but I still have a habit of getting a little too excited when I see some dandelions. I can't seem to help myself really.” 

“I see. I've never heard that before.” With an eyebrow still up, Revali took the dandelion from Link's hand and looked at it for a moment. “Have any wishes of yours come true from this at all?”

Link only gazed up at Revali with soft, loving eyes, which seemed to answer his question. 

That look made Revali's heart flutter, so he directed his attention back to the weed in his hand. 

He squeezed his eyes shut, wished his absolute hardest, and then blew even harder, sending the seeds off of the stem and into the air that carried them away into the distance. After he finished, he flicked the stem onto the ground, put his hands on his hips, and turned back to Link with a flat expression.

“Well, what did you wish for?” The knight asked.

“Weren't you the one that told me that if I said my wish out loud, it wouldn't come true? When you told me to blow out the candles?”

Link chuckled. “Yeah, I guess I did say that. I was just curious as to what someone like you would wish for.”

Revali shrugged and continued to walk. “I guess we can only hope that it comes true, and then you'll find out what it is.” Stopping for a second, he turned around and outstretched his hand for Link to take, taking care in making sure that his pinky, which Link had gotten a habit of holding onto, was easily accessible.

Link obliged with a smile and took his pinky, and together they resumed their journey.

The Rito looked down at the Hylian beside him, admiring how his golden hair bounced as he walked and how his eyes always seemed to be shining.

  
  
  


_ I wish with all of my heart that things will be like this forever. _

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> have you ever wanted to burn something u spent countless hours on because i have ^^^^^^  
> btw the Rito's dances are based off of traditional turkish dance and the Hylian's are based off of greek ones  
> i hc Rito as being Native American but I found Turkish dancing while looking at different dances and I liked how lively it was,,,,sooooooo


End file.
